Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Sporting Park to Host Gold Cup and USA Again

For the fourth time in five years, Sporting Park will host the US men's national team next summer as part of the Gold Cup. The US national team will close out Group A on Monday, July 13th at Sporting Park against an opponent still to be determined. The US will open play in the Gold Cup on Tuesday July 7th in Frisco, Texas before moving to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on the 10th for the second game before finishing the group phase in Kansas City.
The US will be attempting to sweep this cycle's Gold Cups, giving them an automatic berth in the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia. Another team winning the Gold Cup would lead to a one game playoff at a later date to decide who would represent CONCACAF at the competition.
From reading the release put out by Sporting, tickets to the Gold Cup double header will not be included in season ticket packages this time around, unlike 2011. Season ticket holders will have access to an exclusive pre-sale prior to tickets going on sale to the general public.
In the USA's previous three trips to Sporting Park, the US is 3-0-0 with a +5 goal difference (6 for, 1 against). In Kansas City as a whole, the US men are 5-0-0, scoring 13 while allowing 3. Add in the US women's record in KC, and the US men and women are 8-0-3 in Kansas City, scoring 25 and conceding just 7.
This could also mean that Kansas City host three national team games in 2015. There will be the two Gold Cup games, and there is still the Mexico vs Paraguay friendly in March that hasn't been confirmed to be in KC just yet. With KC on the short list to host the 2017 Copa America Centenario the three games would be a chance for KC to impress further. The city has already shown they'll support the US. And the Olympic qualifiers showed that the city will show up for games that don't include the US.